Omaha City (part 25 of 26)

John William Welch

To the people of Omaha the name Welch at once suggests pure food, carefully and appetizingly prepared and quickly served, for John William Welch is the founder and promoter of a chain of lunch rooms which are to Omaha what Child's restaurants are to New York and Thompson's dairy lunches are to Chicago. He was born in Tipton, Iowa, June 14, 1874, and is a son of Dennis and Mary A. (Gilmore) Welch, the former born in Massachusetts in 1847 and the latter a native of Vermont. They were married, however, in Tipton, Iowa, and at length became residents of Mechanicsville, Iowa, where Mrs. Welch is still living. Mr. Welch died in 1912. He was by occupation a steam engineer.

John William Welch attended the public schools of Tipton and completed his education in the State University of Iowa, where he took a pharmaceutical course. He became a registered pharmacist and went into the drug business in Mechanicsville, where he remained from 1893 to 1898. He then became a traveling salesman for the Chamberlain Medicine Company of Des Moines, which he represented on the road for six years, or until 1904. He traveled over a large part of the United States and during that time also took a trip around the world, visiting the Hawaiian islands, Samoa, New Zealand, China, Japan, India and the principal cities of Europe. On severing his connection with the Chamberlain Medicine Company he opened a large cafeteria in Des Moines, Iowa. While on the road he had abundant opportunity for discovering in what respects the ordinary restaurant or lunch room falls short of the needs of the men and women whom it serves and as the result of his careful and extended observation he had a definite plan of operation in mind when he went into the restaurant business. He still owns the cafeteria in Des Aloines, Iowa, and has since established another eating place there. However, since 191 1 he has made his home in Omaha, where in that year he established a lunch room. The variety and wholesomeness of the food served, the courteous, painstaking service and the meticulous regard for cleanliness evidenced in this lunch room soon attracted a large patronage and from time to time other places have been added until there are now five lunch rooms in Omaha operated under the name of \\'elch's, two on south Tenth street, one on Farnam street and one on Douglas street, and in addition there is The Quickserv, a large cafeteria in the City National Bank building. The vegetables and fruit served to Mr. Welch's patrons are grown upon his eighteen acre farm, known as Cherrycroft and situated near Benson. He also keeps poultry there, thus providing fowl and eggs for use in his lunch rooms, and he buys the entire output of one of the two dairies furnishing certified milk in Omaha. His pharmaceutical knowledge has been of great value to him as it enables him to conduct a laboratory in connection with his bakery and commissary department, in which he analyzes all milk and cream and spices and compounds his own flavorings. He knows exactly what is in every ounce of \\'elch's food and pays a premium to get the best on the market. His insistence upon the highest standards extends to the preparation of the food and all equipment that has been devised to ensure cleanliness and add to efticiency has been installed. The floors and walls are of white tile, the tables are procelain topped and the food is safeguarded from dust by great plate glass cases. The policy of the patrons serving themselves is very popular with the business and professional men and women in Omaha as it has resulted in a great saving of time. Approximately six thousand people eat daily in the Welch lunch rooms and this gives some idea of the vast quantities of supplies which must be purchased. In a town of six thousand population there would probably be two to four bakeries, four or five butchers, several milkmen and a dozen groceries, and a dozen truck farmers in the vicinity would also be required to furnish the food for the people. All the supplies that would in such a case be handled by these many businesses are bought and distributed through Welch's central ofiice and the systematic and efficient way in which every detail of this large business is handled is high testimony to the ability and executive force of the proprietor, John W. Welch.

Mr. W>lch was married August 13, 1898, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Gertrude Fall jMeshon, a daughter of John J. Meshon, a native of Kentucky. To this union have been born two children : John Meshon, who was born in Mechanicsville, Iowa, May 16, 1904, and is a public school student; and Gertrude Irene, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, February 8, 1909.

Mr. Welch is an adherent of the democratic party, in religious faith is a Roman Catholic and fraternally belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He is also grand chief of the Marquett Club, a social organization of St. Bernard's parish. He holds membership in the Carter Lake Club, the Athletic Club of Omaha, the Omaha Automobile Club, the Rotary Club, the Ak-Sar-Ben and the Commercial Club and his aggressiveness and seemingly tireless energy have been important factors in the success of many projects for the commercial and civic advancement of Omaha. The vitahty of his personaHty and his indomitable will impress all those who come in contact with him and his position of leadership in his field of business is indisputable.

Dr. Richard Channing Aloore, the founder of the Medical College of the University of Nebraska, was the last survivor of the charter members of the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and for a half century he remained in the active practice of medicine in this city. He was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1841 and was named in honor of his uncle, Bishop Channing Moore, the second colonial bishop of Virginia.

He pursued his early education at New Haven, Connecticut, and afterward attended St. Paul's College at Palmyra, Missouri, subsequent to which time he began preparation for a professional career as a student in the Chicago Medical College. He had only one year more to complete his course when he put aside all business and personal considerations to enter the army, in which he enlisted in 1863, becoming a surgeon on hospital steamers on the Mississippi and also serving in a similar capacity in Memphis hospitals. He continued at the front until the close of the war and then returned to Chicago, where he completed his medical studies.

Not long afterward Dr. Moore removed to Omaha, where he continued in active practice throughout his remaining days. At the close of fifty years' professional service he was the most beloved and honored representative of his calling in the city. He was treated by his professional colleagues both young and old with the greatest respect and the warm regard entertained for him by physicians and surgeons of Omaha was indicated when at the end of a half century's practice he was invited to become the guest of honor at a dinner given by the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society, on which memorable occasion he was presented with a loving cup.

In 1868 Dr. ]\Ioore was united in marriage at his old home in Quincy to Miss Eliza Bushnell, a niece of Hon. Nehemiah Bushnell, who was the builder of the railroad from Galesburg, Illinois, to Quincy, now a part of the Burlington System. The town of Bushnell was named in his honor. To Dr. and Mrs. Moore were born three children who survive, Mrs. Victor White, Mrs. Harry Jordan and Mrs. E. S. Westbrook.

Dr. Moore passed away January 27, 1916, at the age of seventy-five years. Throughout his entire life he possessed the "saving sense of humor." He saw the bright side of everything and his cheery presence in the sick room was like sunshine or a tonic to the patient. He belonged to the Ak-Sar-Ben, in the work of which he took an active part for a considerable period, and he was long a devoted member of Trinity Cathedral. At the time of his death the following editorial was written of him: "If we enumerate the honors in his profession to which Dr. Moore attained we must record everything possible, including the presidency of the local and state medical societies, the Missouri Valley, and the vice presidency of the American Medical Association. As a citizen he was a model. His support was given to every enterprise that tended to promote the welfare of the community. His profession he loved and its members were the companions of his choice. He cherished its highest ideals and was very jealous for the good name of its representatives. Nothing so quickly or deeply aroused his indigation as evidence of dishonorable conduct on the part of a physician. He possessed a judicial mind, was a deep student and a man of wide knowledge, professionally and otherwise. His wisdom and sound judgment caused his counsel to be sought by younger physicians, to whom it was freely given. He never allowed himself to become obsolete. His interest never flagged in the children of his brain and hand - the local and state and Missouri Valley Medical Societies and the College of Medicine of the University of Nebraska, formerly Omaha Medical College, for he was active in organizing all of these. His patients reposed in him the utmost confidence. To them he was not only physician but also confidant and friend. A man of social disposition, kindly, cheerful, optimistic, genuine, tenderhearted, sympathetic, just and honorable, yet with charity for all - a Christian gentleman."

James C. Robinson

James C. Robinson, a seedsman of Waterloo, has developed a business of mammoth proportions that finds a prototype in the tiny seeds which he handles in their development into great productive plants. Meeting the public demand for the best seeds that nature and cultivation can produce, he has built up a business that is countrywide in its scope. His life history cannot fail to prove of interest. He was born in the town of Hebron, Washington county. New York, November 7, 1861. His father, John A. Robinson, was a native of the town of Argyle, Washington county, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He devoted his life to the occupation of farming and was also prominent in local affairs, being well known as a writer on political and religious subjects for papers in his community. He married Emeline E. Coy, who was born near Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and was of English lineage, representing one of the old families of New England.

In the acquirement of his education James C. Robinson attended the West Hebron Union high school and the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute of Fort Edward, New York. While still a resident of the Empire state he engaged in farming and in school teaching, there remaining until 1886, when he removed westward to Douglas county, Nebraska. He taught school for one year in the west before engaging in the wholesale seed growing business. He conducted the seed business under his own name and as sole proprietor until 1904, when he incorporated the J. C. Robinson Seed Company, capitalized for one hundred thousand dollars, the capital stock being in possession of himself and family. A little later he incorporated the J. C. Robinson Real Estate Company, which is handled as a holding concern only for the family. They own about two thousand acres, used for the production of their seed crops, and they utilize from fifteen to twenty thousand acres annually under the contract system for the growing of seeds. Something of the immense volume of their business is indicated in the fact that they now have five large warehouses in Waterloo and another at Rocky Ford, Colorado. Today their shipments go to all parts of the country and their interests have become one of the best known commercial enterprises of Douglas county. From, handling the product of a few acres, the company today utilizes the product of twenty thousand acres, and the selling end of their business covers the United States and Canada, while a representative of the house is also found in Europe. About seventy men are employed in preparing the seed products, which are handled in the most careful and businesslike manner. Aside from his connection with the seed business Mr. Robinson is a director of the Bank of Waterloo in his home city and a director in the Conservative Savings & Loan Association of Omaha. His standing in business circles and the high reputation which he enjoys as a leader in his line are indicated in the fact that he was chosen for the presidency of the American Seed Trade Association in 1909 and 1910, being elected at the convention held at Niagara Falls, Canada, in the spring of 1909, continuing in that office until the close of the regular convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1910.

The New York

united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Temple, a daughter of Luther R. i-nd Delia M. Temple. Her father was a prominent and prosperous farmer of Granville, New York, also a bank director, one of the supervisors of his town and a prominent worker in and member of the Baptist church. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson became parents of two sons and two daughters : Delia M. ; Edward Temple, who was married October 17, 1912, to Tress McCoid, of Logan, Iowa, who died November 18, 1916; Laurence R., who was married August 17, 1916, to Blanche Fenton, of Rocky Ford, Colorado ; and Grace M. The family are adherents of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Robinson has been a lifelong republican, and was nominated for presidential elector at the state republican convention at Lincoln in the year that Theodore Roosevelt was nominated for president. He belongs to the Commercial Club of Omaha and he is widely known as a representative of the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in Waterloo Lodge, No. 102, A. F. & A. M., of which he is now senior warden ; Nebraska Consistory, No. i, A. & A. S. R., of Omaha; and Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Omaha. He also belongs to Waterloo Lodge, No. 226, I. O. O. F., and Apollo Encampment at Fremont, Nebraska, and is identified with Center Lodge, No ^2, K. P., of Elkhorn, Nebraska. There is no record in this volume which indicates more clearly the fact that "peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." In this age when Europe is engaged in destructive warfare, cutting down her best citizenship and all of her best indications of an advanced civilization, America is still intent on the effort to upbuild rather than to destroy. In the business' career of James C. Robinson he has always followed constructive methods and his path has never been strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes. He has never feared legitimate competition, knowing that merit and ability win, and he has based his success upon a straightforward representation of the product which he has handled. The few acres which he had in the beginning have expanded into the twenty-thousnnd acre tract now utilized in his business, and his name as a seedsman is known throughout the length and breadth of the continent and at various European points as well.

Lee McGreer, a prominent contractor and builder of Omaha, was born in Rock Island county, Illinois, August 18, 1862. of the marriage of Louis and Jennie (Pullen) McGreer. Louis McGreer was born in Indiana and accompanied his parents to Illinois shortly after the Black Hawk war, the family being pioneers of Rock Island county, as the father. John McGreer, had preempted land in the southern part of that county. In the Prairie state Louis McGreer grew to manhood and received his education. He devoted his life to farming and acquired a substantial competence. His death occurred in Rock- Island county in 1901. His widow survives and makes her home in Topeka. Kansas, with a daughter. She has three children : Lee ; Elbert, who resides in Rock Island county. Illinois; and Hat tie, the wife of Dr. J. PI. Close, of Topeka, Kansas.

As a boy Lee McGreer attended the public schools of Rock Island county and he secured his preparation for a business career as a student in a commercial college in Keokuk. Iowa. For some time he clerked in a dry goods store at Muscatine, Iowa, after which he was employed in a planing mill in that city. After his arrival in Omaha in 1882 he was connected with the planing mill business here for ten years, but at the end of that time disposed of his mill in order to devote his time and attention to contracting and building. In the twenty-five years that have elapsed since that time he has erected some of the fine l)uildings of Omaha, thus contril)uting to the material expansion of the city.

^Ir. McGreer was married in Omaha in December, 1883, to Aliss Hattie Gotham, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gotham. Three children, all natives of Omaha, have been born of this marriage, namely : Harry Cody, who was born in 1886 and is a high school graduate; Lula, who was born in 1892 and completed a course in Boyle's Business College ; and Gladys, who was born in 1906 and is attending the public schools.

Mr. McGreer is a stanch democrat but has been content to perform his duties as a citizen in a private capacity. He belongs to the Fraternal Union and also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he is characterized by marked public spirit, feeling a deep interest in all that afifects the development of Omaha whether along the lines of moral, civic or commercial progress.

James T. Allan

James T. Allan, an architect who has designed many notable buildings in Omaha, his native city, has through the steps of an orderly progression reached his present position, where the quality and attractiveness of his work secure for him a liberal patronage. He was born July 24, 1889, a son of Henry B. :md Helen (Young) Allan, both of whom were natives of Scotland. In January, 1914, he began the practice of his profession independently, establishing offices in the Brandeis Theater building. It required a little time to gain a start but after the preliminary struggle was over his business grew rapidly and satisfactorily and today he is w^ell known as the designer of some of the notable buildings of the city, including the Morris Apartment Hotel, the Ford Hospital and others.

Mr. Allan holds membership with the Woodmen of the World, also with the Commercial Club, the Field Club and the Omaha Athletic Club, which membership relations are indicative of the nature of his interests outside of the field of business, in which he is making steady progress. Without financial assistance at the start, he has worked his way steadily upward and with a broad knowledge of the principles of architecture as the basic element of his success he has won for himself a creditable place in professional circles.

I was born in Leroy, Ohio, the only child of Lieutenant Seth and Amorette Rich Foote. My father was born on a farm in Huron county, Ohio, and moved to Clayton county, Iowa, where he engaged in merchandising. In i860 he took an emigrant ox train across the plains to Denver and Pike's Peak. With the outbreak of the Civil war, howe\er, he enlisted as a private in Company A, Eighth Kansas A'olunteer Infantry at Leavenworth, Kansas. He rose to the rank of lieutenant, was transferred west and was engaged in some very strenuous Indian soldiering at Fort Kearney, Fort McPherson and Fort Laramie. He was sent as quartermaster to build Fort Bridger near Salt Lake City. Upon his request he was returned to his regiment and served as aid-de-camp for General Hegg at the battle of Chickamauga and ordnance officer at Missionary Ridge, where he was mortally wounded.

My mother, Amorette Rich Foote, lived in the little town of Fayette, Iowa, where, as a war-widow she struggled with poverty for many years before the L'nited States government awarded her a pension which, with my efiforts in various avocations as a school boy and student made us a comfortable home. In 1882 I graduated from the Upper Iowa University at Fayette. After two or three years' residence in Huron, South Dakota, during the boom days, I went to Chicago where I acquired my degree of M. D. from the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College and spent a year and a half as interne in the West Side Hospital of Chicago. My mother entered the deaconess work under the supervision of Lucy Ryder Meyer of Chicago, and she continued in deaconess work until the time of her death, a period of over twenty years. The last years of her life were spent as superintendent of the deaconess work in Los Angeles, California.

I located in Omaha upon the completion of my interneship in Chicago, which also included an experience of several months as house physician and surgeon in the Illinois penitentiary at Joliet. After two years' practice in Omaha I took post graduate work in Dr. Martin's Clinic in Berlin and did some special surgical work in X'ienna and London. I have been in Omaha twenty-eight years and my work grows more interesting to me constantly and 1 trust to round out at least fifty years of work in Omaha.

On the 24th day of September, 1891, in Holly, Michigan, I was united in marriage to Miss Milla H. Baird. We have three children, Marjorie Baird, Arthur Newman and Mildred Amorette. We are all members of the Hanscom Park Methodist church.

Alvin Frederick Johnson

A modern philosopher has said "not the good that comes to us. but the good that comes to the world through us, is the measure of our success." Judged by this standard, the life of Alvin Frederick Johnson has been a most successful one, for his labors have been directly resultant in bringing about benefit for his fellowmen. He is a stanch believer* in the principle that we are here, not only to work out our own salvation, but to render the best service in us to the public at large and to the community in which we live, and that it is every citizen's duty to give at all times a portion of his time and his energy serving the public.

Alvin Frederick Johnson is a native son of Omaha, and was born January 6, 1877. His father, x^ndrew Frederick Johnson, was an early Omaha pioneer, arriving in this city in the year 1871. For thirty-five years he was in the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He passed away in June, 1914. The mother of Mr. Johnson is Anna Mortenson Johnson, who is still a resident of Omaha. 'Sir. Johnson is of Swedish ancestry, both on his mother's and father's side.

During his youthful days under the parental roof. Alvin F. Johnson passed through consecutive grades in the public schools, and continued on through the Omaha high school. After leaving high school, he was employed in the auditing department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and at the same time studiecl law at the night school conducted by the Omaha School of Law. He later continued his law studies and took a selected course in the Nebraska State University, graduating therefrom with his LL. B. degree in 1901. He then returned to Omaha and began the practice of law. During the first year of his practice he was associated with Charles S. Elgutter. The next four years he spent w^ith the law firm of Woolworth & McHugh, composed of James M. Woolworth and Judge W. D. McHugh, where he received very valuable training in his profession. After the death of Mr. Woolworth, Mr. Johnson was associated with Warren Switzler for one year, and since that time he has been actively engaged in the practice of law by himself. It is the theory of the law that a lawyer's duty is to aid the court in the administration of justice, and there is perhaps no member of the profession in Omaha who has been more careful to conform his practice to that high standard of professional ethics than Mr. Johnson. He never seeks to lead the court astray in a matter of fact or law, and ever treats the court with the studied courtesy which is its due. and indulges in no malicious criticism if it arrives at a conclusion in the decision of a case, different from that which he hoped to hear. Notwithstanding this, Mr. Johnson is a persistent and aggressive fighter for his cHcnt, and his cause when just. Cahn, dignified, self-controlled, free from passion and prejudice, he gives to his client talent, learning and unwearied industry, but he never forgets there are certain things due to the court, to his own self-respect, and above all. to justice and a righteous administration of the law, which neither the zeal of an advocate nor the pleasure of success will permit him to disregard. Mr. Johnson enjoys a very large acquaintance, and the confidence of his clients, which, with his ability, has enabled him to build up a very successful law practice. He has the universal respect of the courts and the members of the bar.

On the 27th day of November, 1906, in Toledo, Ohio, Mr. Johnson \vas joined in wedlock to Miss Marie Stanfield Bryant, by whom he has two children. Stanfield Bryant, born November 8, 1907. and Marian Elizabeth, whose natal day was November 16, 191 4.

Mr. Johnson belongs to two college fraternities, the Phi Delta Phi and the Phi Delta Theta. In politics he is a republican. He was chairman of the board of insanity commissioners of Douglas county, in 1912 and 1913, and is again serving in that position now, having been reappointed in 1916. He is a member of the University Club and the Commercial Club. At one time he was a member of the commission appointed by the supreme court to examine applicants for admission to the bar.

As has been previously stated in this sketch. Mr. Johnson, although a Inisy lawyer, has given unsparingly of his time and energy to matters of public interest and welfare. In local politics he has been very active for a number of years in a fight to secure good clean government and honest elections, and to that end has served in various capacities, from that of a challenger and inspector of elections in the noted "third ward," to acting as manager of campaigns. He has never been a candidate for political office. He used his influence and contributed his efforts towards securing the "Honest Election Law" for Omaha, and to secure legislation of various kinds for the benefit of Omaha and Douglas county, including the law permitting the establishing of a public workhouse, a law to better the selection of juries, and legislation, both state and national, regulating the traffic in "dope" and providing severe penalties for violations thereof. He has been a very active member of the Commercial Club, and has served for years on its municipal affairs committee, and is now vice chairman thereof. In his activity on this committee, he has given much of his time and efforts toward the solution of many civic problems confronting Omaha and Douglas county. As a member of the insanity commission, he has taken special interest in the handling of dipsomaniacs, in an effort to redeem unfortunate victims of the drug and liquor habits. His activities along this line began early in his practice, and before he was a member of the insanity commission, when he was assigned by the court to defend a messenger boy of eighteen, with a widowed mother, who was charged with burglary. Upon investigating the case. Air. Johnson discovered that this boy was a victim of the cocaine habit, and was impelled to commit crime in order to obtain money to buy drugs. Mr. Johnson had the boy paroled to him. and took personal charge of him, and as stated by the World-Herald, "during his efforts to help the boy. Johnson became acquainted with the extent of the evil. He spent days and many nights at different times, hunting for his young charge in the alleys of the big city. Finally after a long, useless struggle, in which the boy tried time and again to recover himself, and during which Johnson constantly helped him the best he could, they had to give up. The odds were too great against them. Some of the boy's escapades, many of them of a criminal nature, would make a thrilling story." Wherever the boy was sent, either to jail or to a state hospital, he seemed to be able to procure his "coke." All of this made such a distinct impression upon Mr. Johnson's mind, that he began further investigations, and found that habit-forming drugs were sold freely, not only to adults, but to minors, and a large per cent of the messenger boys were addicted to the use thereof. He thereupon began a long, earnest fight against this terrible vice, during which he took charge of many persons addicted to the habit, in his efforts to reform them, and began a campaign of publicity in the crusade. He prepared and secured the passage of proper legislation by the state legislature, making it, instead of a misdemeanor, a felony, punishable by fine of one hundred dollars to sell, give away, or handle habit-forming drugs, or their derivatives, or compounds containing any of them, and also contributed his eft'orts and influence towards securing the national law on the subject, to the end that this unholy traffic has been largely lessened.

Along other lines he has also put forth earnest and effective effort, and belongs to that pubHc-spirited, useful and helpful type of man, whose ambitions and desires are centered and directed in those channels through which flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number.

Dr. Gustave Dishong is specializing in the treatment of nervous and mental diseases, following years of thorough training and successful practice along that line. While the trend of emigration has always been westward Dr. Dishong comes to this city from the far west, his birth having occurred in San Francisco in 1873. His father was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1830 and in early manhood came to the United States. He enlisted for service in the Civil war, was promoted to a lieutenancy and by active duty at the front proved his loyalty to his adopted country. Again he gave practical demonstration of his devotion to American interests and ideals when he went to the Philippines, dying there in the naval service in 1907, when seventy-seven years of age. His wife had passed away in Lincoln, Nebraska, some time before.

Dr. Dishong was but an infant when the family home was established in Lincoln, Nebraska, and there he was reared and educated, completing a course in the University Place high school by graduation with the class of 1887. He then entered the academic department of the Wesleyan University and was graduated in 1900. It was seven years later that, having carried out his purpose to prepare for a professional career, he was graduated from the medical department of Creighton University at Omaha and he afterward pursued a post graduate course in the Cook County (111.) Hospital, which brought him broad medical experience. He also did special work in the Psychopathic Institute at Kankakee, Illinois. He afterwards went to London, England, and studied neurology at the National Hospital for Paralyzed and Epileptic. His work along the line of his specialty has been far-reaching and effective. He was pathologist and assistant superintendent at the State Hospital for the Insane at Norfolk, Nebraska, for three years in all and under civil service he was assistant physician at the State Hospital at Watertown, Illinois, for a year. He later became connected with the State Hospital for Nervous Diseases at Little Rock, Arkansas, in the position of alienist or chief of staff, continuing there for eighteen months and in the fall of 1913, upon his return to Omaha from study abroad, he entered the practice of the treatment of nervous and mental diseases. He is at present (1917) professor of nervous and mental diseases at Creighton Medical College. He has advanced knowledge along this line, keeping in close touch with the latest scientific investigation and research.

On the ist of January, 1903, Dr. Dishong was married at University Place, Lincoln, to Miss Lena L. Beck, a daughter of the Hon. Charles W. Beck, now deceased, who served as a soldier of the Civil war from Illinois, and was a judge in the courts of Red Willow county for six years. Dr. and Mrs. Dishong have a daughter, Grace Jeanette.

The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Dr. Dishong belongs to the Phi Rho Sigma, a medical fraternity. His political endorsement is given to the republican party but he has never been ambitious in the line of office holding, feeling that his professional duties demand all his time and energies. He is a member of the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society, the Elkhorn Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and the proceedings of those organizations keep him in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and discovery. Thoroughness in preparation, close application, indefatigable energy and laudable ambition have already gained for Dr. Dishong a creditable place in the ranks of neurologists in the United States,

It has been said that the number and character of the educational institutions of a community are a sure indication of its ideals and standards of life. Thus judged Omaha stands high, for her citizenship has founded and nurtured a number of most excellent institutions of learning which are exerting an increasing influence for learning and uplift over a wide territory. At the head of one of these beneficent institutions, the University of Omaha, is Dr. D. E. Jenkins. A native of Wales, he was born in Flintshire, near the old city of Chester, England, December 13, 1866, and was the second son of the Rev. John M. Jenkins and Jane Edwards Jenkins. His Grandfather William Jenkins, a native of Wales, came to the United States in 1864 and died in April, 1879. His father was born in Wales, March 21, 1839, and died March 10, 1909, at Nottingham, Pennsylvania, where he was pastor of the Presbyterian church and instructor in theology in Lincoln University, near Nottingham. He had been a resident of this country since 1866 and for forty-one years had taken a prominent part in the building up of Presbyterianism spiritually and educationally.

Dr. D. E. Jenkins was first and for almost two years a student at Wooster University, Wooster. Ohio, and subsequently entered Melbourne University, at Melbourne, Australia, from which he was graduated with high distinction in 1889, receiving the B. A. degree. He immediately entered upon post graduate studies for the Master's degree and enrolled for final honor examinations, in which he won first place and was awarded a five hundred dollar prize and elected senior scholar in the school of logic and philosophy for the current year. Returning subsequently to the United States, he completed his theological studies at Princeton Seminary, at the same time pursuing extra-curriculum philosophical studies at Princeton University. He received his degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Washington-Jefiferson College and his doctorate in theology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Jenkins is ranked with the eminent scholars and educators of the Presbyterian church. In 1891 he was, at the early age of twenty-eight years, elected president of Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa, and was recognized as the youngest college president in the country.

For sixteen years Dr. Jenkins has been identified with educational interests in Omaha. In 1900 he accepted the position of professor of doctrinal theology and apologetics in the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary and in 19 10 was made dean of the faculty in that institution. In addition to his duties in the vSeminary he has acted as president of the University of Omaha ever since its Establishment and continues to direct the progress of this rapidly developing school. Under his guiding hand the institution has acquired two very suitable buildings, namely, the John Jacobs Memorial Gymnasium and Joslyn Hall, its student body has steadily increased, its curriculum has broadened, and its ideals and standards of education and scholarship have been persistently elevated.

The regard in which Dr. Jenkins is held in the world of theological scholarship is evidenced by the fact that he was chosen by the Princeton Seminary faculty to deliver the annual series of lectures on the L. P. Stone Foundation, an honor which was never before bestowed on one so young as was Dr. Jenkins at the time and, with one exception, has never been bestowed on any scholar west of the Ohio river. Suffice it to say that the Stone Lectureship is second to none in America in the rigid requirements it makes on scholarships and that in the list of lecturers on this Foundation are the names of such world-renowned scholars as Dr. Abraham Kuyper, of Holland, and Dr. James Orr, of Scotland.

Dr. Jenkins loves the work of teaching and is at his best before a class in his favorite subjects of philosophy and theology. He makes very ample use of the Socratic method and believes that the excessive use of the lecture method has led to a serious deterioration of the art of teaching. While possitive in his convictions he is never dogmatic in his method. Intellectual honesty is with him the prime necessity of scholarship and he insists that on ultimate problems the student shall reach his own conclusions. He is considerably in demand as a teacher in summer Bible conferences and similar gatherings where questions of biblical interpretation and of religious philosophy generally are brought into discussion for popular audiences.

While primarily a teacher Dr. Jenkins is a man of unusual energy and capacity for intense concentration of mental powers when emergency demands. He has filled many important civic and ecclesiastical appointments requiring close temporary application and practical initiative as well as judgment. He has served as chairman of the committee on polity of the Presbyterian General Assembly, as member of a most important special committee appointed to effect a change in the form of government of the church in regard to the rights and duties of executive commissions, and is now a member of the permanent committee on men's work. He has been honored with the moderatorship of the Synod of Nebraska and has served as chairman of its executive commission and its home mission committee. Of his public activities it need only be said that he has served as a member of the Omaha public school board, as president of the State Conference of Charities and Correction, as a member of a special commission appointed by Governor Alorehead to investigate vice conditions, and as an appointee of successive governors to represent the state in national congresses on prison reform, conservation of natural resources, and charities and correction. He is a prominent and valued member of the University Club of Omaha and of the Schoolmasters Club of Nebraska and an honorary member of the Commercial Club of Omaha. Unlike many men who have devoted their lives to educational and church work, he does not hold himself aloof from general public interests but belongs to that class of modern thinkers who see that highest values reside in what are designated as the secular affairs of mankind and that the very purpose of both religion and education is to fit the individual to contribute his share to the work of the world and to the promotion of every truly human interest. As might be expected of a man of his type, he has maintained an independent course in his political views and affiliations and has exercised his right of franchise according to what he has deemed to be the exigencies of the times. As he has been heard to say. "the i)olitical salt of the earth is the independent voter."'

Frank S. Owen. M. D.

Among the foremost specialists in the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear, possessing comprehensive knowledge and broad i)ractical experience, is Dr. Frank S. Owen of Omaha, who for many years has ranked with the leading physicians of the city. His practice is extensive and of a most important character and in fact such is his skill and ability that he has won national reputation. He was born at Seville, Ohio, November 13, 1856, and is a son of Gideon S. and Mary (St. John) Owen, who were natives of New York, but became residents of Ohio in 1816. Later they were married in the Buckeye state and there the father became a well known and ])rominent fruit grower, continuing his residence at Seville and Catawba island up to the time of his death, which occurred when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-nine years. His wife, too. passed away in Ohio at the age of eighty-three years.

Dr. Owen was the fourth in their family of five sons and one daughter and after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native state he took up an academic course in Oberlin College. His professional course was pursued in the University of Michigan, which conferred upon him the M. D. degree at his graduation with the class of 1885. The same year he located for practice in Stromsburg. Nebraska, where he remained for four years, after which he took up the study of diseases of the eye and ear in New York city. He has since done post graduate work in the leading universities and medical clinics of Europe on the eye and ear, remaining abroad for a year. On returning to America he came to Omaha, where he opened an office in i8gi. He has since gained well deserved fame and today has a very extensive practice in the line of his specialty, while his reputation has made him known in various sections of the country. He belongs to the Douglas County Medical Society, of which he has served as president. He also has membership with the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and is one of the professors of the University of Nebraska, giving instruction on diseases of the nose and throat in the medical department.

On the 2d of January, 1889, Dr. Owen was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Keys, of Lewis, Iowa, and to them have been born four children : Hubert K., born in Stromsburg in 1891 and now a graduate of the University of Nebraska ; Donald R., who was born in 1893 ^^^ after graduating from the Lake Forest Academy at Lake Forest, Illinois, is now a medical student in the University of Nebraska ; Gertrude H.. who was born in Omaha in 1897, and Elizabeth, who was born in California in 1913.

Dr. Owen is a prominent representative of Masonry, having attained the Knight Templar degree. He is a member of the Omaha Club, the University Club, of which he is president, and the Commercial Club. Effort and ability have brought him prominently to the front in professional circles, while personal worth has established him in the high regard of all with whom he has been associated m other connections.

Charles E. Johannes

In every relation of life Charles E. Johannes conducted himself with such signal dignity and honor that he was regarded throughout Omaha and wherever he was known as one of nature's noblemen and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of all with whom he came in contact. He arrived in Omaha in 1868, when a lad of but nine years, his birth having occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1859. His father, Martin Johannes, also a native of Baltimore, became a manufacturing jeweler of Omaha, where he remained until 1877, when he and his wife returned to the east.

Charles E. Johannes was at that time a youth of eighteen years. He spent his early boyhood under the parental roof and devoted his time largely to the acquirement of a public school education, but when his parents returned to the east he remained in this city and was thereafter closely associated with its business interests. He was a youth of but fifteen years when he entered the employ of R. Bingham, a commission merchant, with whom he remained until he joined the Paxton-Gallagher Company when he was twenty-two years of age. He was junior member of the firm when the company was incorporated and he did much to develop and upbuild the interests of that corporation, occupying one of the highest and most responsible positions with the company. Whatever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, for in his vocabulary there was no such word as fail.

Mr. Johannes was married in Omaha in 1889 to 3iliss Emma Fitch, who arrived in this city in 1868 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Fitch. Her father was a native of New York and lived in Galena, Illinois, for some time before removing to Nebraska. For three years . Mrs. Johannes was a teacher in the public schools of Omaha.

Mr. Johannes' religious faith was that of the Episcopal church and in his early youth he became one of the choir boys of St. Barnabas' church, while subsequently he was a communicant of All Saints' church. He gave most generously to charitable work and was constantly extending a helping hand to the poor and needy. He became a charter member of the Commercial Club and thus cooperated earnestly in all well devised plans for the upbuilding of the city and the advancement of its civic standards. He was also a charter member of the Happy Hollow Club and he was a sportsman in the truest and highest sense of the term. He was also equally loyal in his support of the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained the Knight Templar degree, while with the Nobles of the ]^Iystic Shrine he crossed the sands of the desert. He was likewise a charter member of the Ak-Sar-Ben. He stood as the highest type of American manhood and chivalry and to know h-im was to love ,hini, for his life was an exponent of all that is good in man, all that ishonegt .and pure and noble. He passed away December 13. 1912. - ' ^

Hugh H. Harper

One of the most prominent figures in real estate circles in Omaha is Hugh H. Harper, who possesses all of those qualities that make for success and for extensive operations in real estate fields. His labors along this line have done much for the development and improvement of his city and his word concerning realty values or transactions is largely accepted as authority.

Mr. Harper was born in Jewell City, Kansas, April 15, 1884. his parents being Alfred and Elizabeth (Dye) Harper, natives of Illinois and Ohio respectively. They became pioneer settlers of Kansas, but after a short period returned to Illinois in 1887. settling in Hancock county, where the father engaged in farming. The mother is still living at the age of sixty-three years.

Hugh H. Harper was the fourth in their family of seven children. In early life he attended the public schools of Hancock county, Illinois, and later became a student in the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He afterward removed to Omaha and entered the law department of Creighton University, from which he was graduated in 19 10. He was then admitted to practice but only followed the profession for a short time. Later he turned his attention to the real estate business under the firm name of H. H. Harper & Company. From that point forward he has developed and broadened his interests until he is today one of the most prominent real estate men of Omaha and has placed upon the market much property which has been greatly enhanced in value on account of the developments and the improvements which he has made. He has made a specialty of filling in the gaps - in other words, of transforming unsightly vacancies into attractive residential districts. He has done this by platting the property and interesting prospective buyers, who will improve the land with modern buildings. Mr. Harper certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, for in his operations he has looked to the benefit and improvement of the city as well as to the attainment of individual success. He has developed a number of fine residential districts, including the Evanston, Cedarnolc, Crcightons 2nd, Fontenelle Park, Westmoreland, Harper Sub., Weir Crest and other additions which are very attractive sections of the city. These have all been platted and some of them improved with walks, sewerage system, water, lights and paving, in fact all of those public utilities necessary in the development of a city. He employs a number of expert real estate salesmen and he is considered one of the most reliable real estate dealers of the city, thoroughly painstaking and at all times putting forth every effort to further the interests of his patrons.

On the 29th of December, 1915, in Omaha, Mr. Harper was united in marriage to Miss Ruth F. Evans, daughter of Richard R. Evans, who is a well known laundryman of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Harper have a son, Richard Henry, who was born in Omaha, October 7, 1916. Mr. Harper holds membership in the Commercial Club, while his political support is given to the democratic party. His mother was left a widow with seven children, and all aided in the support of the family. Hugh H. Harper contributed his share and made his start in the business world in moderate circumstances. However, he has worked his way steadily upward, depending upon his own resources from the age of eight years. It was by doing odd jobs that he saved enough to enable him to attend school, and not content with an ordinary education, he made it his purpose to secure a college and a law course and thus prepare for life's practical and responsilile duties.

Henry George Windheim

Henry George Windheim, president of the Nebraska Seed Company, began business under that name in October, 1891, when a young man of twenty years, and through the intervening period, covering a quarter of a century, has developed a trade of large proportions and has won a place among the substantial merchants of the city. Omaha claims him as a native son, his birth having here occurred on the 9th of October, 1871. His father, Philip Windheim, was born in Germany in 1825 and came to the United States in 1856, at which time he established his residence in Omaha., Here he married Emma Grosse, who was the widow of Charles Stange. He devoted his life to the business of painting and decorating and was a well known representative of industrial activity in Omaha, where he passed away in 1891, his widow surviving until 1913. While in Germany he saw active service in the army. After becoming a naturalized American citizen he endorsed and supported the policies of the democratic party. In Masonry he attained the Knight Templar degree and in his life exemplified the beneficent spirit of the craft.

Omaha's public schools afforded Henry George Windheim his educational opportunities, and when a youth of fifteen years he entered the employ of A. J. Simpson, a carriage manufacturer, by whom he was employed for three years. He then attended a commercial college for a year, realizing the benefit of such instruction as a preparation for further activities in the business field. Prior to that time, however, he had spent one year in the employ of a contractor. In October, 1891, he embarked in the seed business on his own account in a very small way and in 1903 incorporated the business under the name of the Nebraska Seed Company, the business having been conducted under that name from the beginning. His business methods have ever been safe and sane. He has worked his way upward through determined eft'ort, and his persistency of purpose has been supplemented by thoroughly honorable methods which neither seek nor require disguise.

On the loth of April, 1895. in Omaha, Mr. Windheim was united in marriage to Miss Laura Schwab, her father being the late Charles Schwab, who was bandmaster of the United States Ninth Regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Windheim have two children, Henry G., Jr., and Marguerite Emma.

In politics Mr. Windheim has ever maintained an independent course. He is both a York and a Scottish Rite Mason, is a member of the Mystic Shrine and is most loyal to the teachings and purposes of the order. He belongs to the Rotary Club and the Seymour Lake Country Club and he is a progressive member of the Commercial Club, believing in all those forces which work for the upbuilding and betterment of the community or which uphold municipal standards. To this end he has become identified with the Ak-Sar-Ben, an organization for the exploitation of Omaha's resources and interests. He is a member of the Omaha Automobile Club and the Lincoln Highway Association and is a most earnest champion of the good roads movement. While the attainment of individual success has resulted from most strenuous effort on his part, he has at the same time recognized his duties and obligations of citizenship and has never failed to cooperate in plans and movements for the public good whenever he could make it possible to do so.

Rev. James Arthur Tancock

Rev. James Arthur Tancock, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1871. His father, George Tancock, an architect and contractor, was born in Devonshire and has now passed away, but the mother survives, her home being in London, Canada. Henry H. Tancock, eldest brother of Rev. J. A. Tancock, is rector of Trinity church at Norwich, Canada.

The subject of this review, James Arthur Tancock, was graduated from tlie Western University and Huron Divinity School in London, Canada, in 1894, and in 1896 was graduated from the Theological Seminary of New York city. He spent ten years as missionary priest in the district of Wyoming, with headc[uarters at Douglas, and in March, 1910, he was called to Omaha, being installed as dean of Trinity Cathedral on the 19th of that month. Here he has since continued his labors, directing the interests of the church and putting forth most earnest and zealous effort for the upbuilding of the cause.

In Montreal the Rev. Tancock was united in marriage to Miss Louise Skead, iier father being the Hon. James T. Skead, M. P., of Ottawa. They are the parents of a son and daughter, namely: Montague Arthur, who is a senior of Princeton University and is now serving on the hospital staff of the Ladies Paget Hospital at Uskub, Bulgaria ; and Beatrice Mary Louise, who is a graduate of St. Agnes school of Albany, New York, and is now secretary of the public library at Omaha.

Dean Tancock takes no part in partisan politics. He is a Master Mason and that he stands for the best interests of the community in all the lines of its upbuilding is shown by his membership in the Commercial Club. He is also a member of the Universitv and the Field Clubs.

Hugh Murphy

The life record of Hugh Murphy illustrated the fact that ability and industry, in this country at least, form a sufficient foundation for success, for he came to Omaha as a poor young man apparently with no bright prospects, but in the course of years became one of the leading paving contractors in the entire west, and the growth of his business interests was due entirely to his enterprise and 50und judgment. He was born in Itlgin, Illinois, April 14, 1852. He received a common school education and in his youth learned the bricklayer's trade. In 1878 he came to Omaha with no assets save his ambition, his willingness to work and his abihty to readily grasp the salient points of a situation. He turned his attention to paving contracting and laid a great deal of asphalt pavement in the early history of Omaha, including the long stretch of paving in Sherman avenue. The successful completion of that contract made his reputation as an able man in his held and from that time on he ranked among the foremost contractors in Omaha and, in fact, in the west. In 191 5 he was awarded the largest paving contract ever given by the city of Omaha, it calling for the laying of six miles of paving north of Miller Park at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. He was recognized as an authority on the relative values of various paving materials for ditTercnt purposes, used the most improved methods in his work and was markedly successful in holding the loyalty of and securing cooperation from his employes. He was indeed a leader and he won his prominence in his chosen field squarely on his merits.

On the I St of August, 1881, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Ellen McGrath, and to them were born four children : Hugh, Jr., and Richard, both residents of Omaha; Mrs. George Adams, of Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Helen, who is at home.

Mr. Murphy was a stanch democrat, but was never an aspirant for office, as his large business interests demanded his undivided attention. In religious faith he was a Catholic. He was a man with an unusual capacity for friendship, and he became famous throughout the city for his wit, many of his sayings being still current. His death occurred at Old Orchard, Maine, on the 8th of August, 1916, and in his passing Omaha lost not only a business man of the first rank, but also a citizen devoted to the interests of his community.

John Alexander Munroe

John Alexander Munroe, vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, has for more than a third of a century been closely identified with the growth and development of that great railway system. Through all trials and changes of control and business he has occupied positions of responsibility and importance, advancing from one to another until in his present position he stands as one of the able men in the country in railroad circles, an executive of marked ability and force, honored and respected by all who know him.

Mr. Munroe, on both the paternal and maternal sides, is connected with many of the old and prominent families of New England. His father, Nathan Munroe, was a native of Minot, Maine, while his mother was Lucelia T. Hale, a native of Massachusetts. Nathan Munroe at an early day became a resident of Massachusetts. Entering the ministry, he became pastor of the Congregational church of Bradford and occupied the pulpit there for eighteen years. He later turned his attention to newspaper publication and became editor of the Boston Recorder, where he continued his editorial work for several years. While thus engaged he became interested in the Bradford Academy, one of the foremost seminaries for young ladies in the country and still one of the leading educational institutions of the east. He died at Bradford in 1866 at the age of sixty-two years, while his wife there passed away in 1858 at the age of forty-sJx.

John A. Munroe was born at Bradford, Massachusetts, August 18, 1853, being the fourth in order of birth in a family of five children. He prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy, graduating from that institution with the class of 1871. Entering Dartmouth College as a member of the class of 1875, he remained there until in his junior year, when he concluded to go west. While Mr. Munroe's practical railroad career began as a clerk for the Green Bay & ^Minnesota Railroad at Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1873, ^e had from boyhood evinced an unusual interest in railway operations and displayed a familiarity with such work that makes his subsequent successful career seem but a natural outcome.

John A. Munroe

Writing of Air. Munroe's career, a contemporary biographer has said of him : "Mr. Munroe is Hterally a born raih-oad man, and is one of the many men whom the higher education did not disquaHfy for practical business. His early boyhood found him in Bradford, Massachusetts, a little town on the line of the Boston dt Maine Railway. The boy seemed to have unconsciously selected the future occupation of the man by feeling a deep interest in the locomotive and other elements of railroading. Falling in love with the iron horses as they moved to and fro with the trains, absorbing interest in them grew upon him insomuch that he made a record of their names and could distinguish them by the sound of their whistles and bells. This kind of devotion to the locomotive and the trains naturally led to a general acquaintance with the engineers and conductors and also with the officers of the local line, from whom he caught the spirit of the lives of railroad men and which he has never lost."

Mr. Munroe began his railroad life at the foot of the ladder as a clerk in the general freight and passenger departments of the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad at Green Bay, Wisconsin. Advancing step by step from a humble position upwards through clerkships and accounting duties in all branches of the freight and passenger service, the year 1878 found him at the head of the freight department as chief clerk. Resigning this place to locate elsewhere, he was appointed first acting general freight agent and later general freight agent, which position he filled until 1881, when he resigned to accept service with the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis «& Omaha Railroad as general freight agent with headquarters in Omaha, his duties having special reference to the Nebraska division of that road. In 1882 he was called to Minneapolis as assistant general traffic manager of the same road. Mr. Munroe remained in that capacity less than one year, for on the 20th of December, 1882, he resigned to accept the place of assistant general freight agent of the Union Pacific. Two years later, or in 1884, he was made first assistant general freight agent of the Union Pacific and transferred to Kansas City, that he might give special attention to the Kansas divisions of the road.

But these lower places, honorable and responsible as they were, were not large enough for the now trained abilities and capacity of Mr. Munroe, and in January, 1886, he returned to Omaha and was placed at the head of the freight interests of the entire Union Pacific system, with the title of freight traffic manager. From that position he has risen through successive promotions to the position of vice president, to which he was elected on the nth of October, 191 1. He has since bent his energies to administrative direction and executive control and is accorded prominence in railway circles of the country, yet is very modest in demeanor and unassuming at all times. He enjoys the respect of all the representatives of the company, from the office boy up to the highest executive, and is one of the few men who have advanced as he has done who yet regards "the other fellow" as his equal. In a word, he is at all times appreciative of the good qualities and the fidelity of others and accords recognition to every manifestation of faithfulness and loyalty on the part of the employes of the road. That he has earned his way to his present position the record of his steady ascent of the railroad ladder amply shows, but it must be added that in his personal life and relations he is one of the most engaging and popular men Omaha and the trans-Mississippi country has ever known. Aside from his connection with the Union Pacific he is a director of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Company and of other enterprises

In January, 1888, Mr. Munroe was married to Miss Hattie F. Baker, of Kansas" City, Missouri, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harlow W. Baker, well known and prominent people there. Her father, a leading business man. was a member of the firm of Ridenour & Baker, wholesale grocers. Mr. Baker removed from Maine to Kansas City at an early period in the development of that city and both he and his wife are deceased.

service have left him httle time for activity in politics. On the 21st of June, 1916, the Pilaster of Arts degree was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College. He is widely and favorably known and in social circles he and his wife occupy an enviable position, their home being justly celebrated by reason of its warmhearted, gracious and liberal hospitality.

Allan B. Hamilton

Allan B. Hamilton, president, treasurer and manager of a profitable business enterprise conducted under the name of the Hamilton Paint & Glass Company, Incorporated, was born in Omaha, July 28, 1882, and is the youngest of the four children whose parents were George B. and Margaret Edmison Hamilton. The father, a contractor and builder, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1840, and in 1842 was taken by his parents to Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, where he remained most of the time until 1866. He then went to Petersburg, Ontario, where he remained until 1876, when he came to Omaha. He began learning the carpenter's trade in St. Lawrence, in 1861 and after his arrival in Omaha conducted business as contractor and builder to the time of his death, which occurred in 1892. His widow survived him for two decades and died in Omaha in April, 19 12. Her marriage took place in Lindsay, Ontario, and she became the mother of several children, four of whom survive, namely : !Margaret and George, both of Omaha ; Mrs. Arthur Freeman, of Early, Iowa ; and Allan B.

The last named attended the schools of Omaha and when his textbooks were put aside entered into connection with the paint and glass trade in the employ of others. He thoroughly acquainted himself v^^ith the business and gained the experience which has served as the foundation for his later success. It was on the 1st of July, 191 5, that he organized the Hamilton Paint & Glass Company, of which he is the owner, and from the beginning he has enjoyed a liberal and growing business.

On the 17th of April, 1909, Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Grace Warren, of Mitchell, South Dakota, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chester H. Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have one child, Hazel Vaudette, born in Boise, Idaho, July 18, 191 3. Mrs. Hamilton is vice president of the Hamilton Paint & Glass Company.

William P. Snowden

It was on the 4th of July, 1854, that William P. Snowden and his wife arrived in Omaha and when death called them they were the oldest couple in point of residence in the city. They took up their abode in the old Claim House, a log structure which had been erected by the townsite company. This was on the nth of July, and Mr. and Mrs. Snowden were employed by the company to board their workmen. This constituted their initial step in connection with the hotel business of the city. Mr. Snowden was a native of Jessamine county, Kentucky, born April 25, 1825, and when seven years of age he removed to Pike county Missouri, with his parents, being there reared to manhood. He had just attained his majority when in June, 1846, he responded to the country's call for military aid and became a soldier of the First Missouri Mounted Volunteer Infantry for service in the war with Mexico. He was at the front for a year under Colonel Alexander Doniphan, and upon his return from the war he secured a farm a few miles west of St. Joseph, Missouri, and took up his abode thereon. It was on the 9th of September, 1847, that he wedded Rachel

Larson, and during the next few years he devoted his attention to the work of auctioneering, crying many sales. In 1853 '^^ removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and on the 4th of July, 1854, as previously stated, came to Omaha, bringing with him his wife and three children. Other white people had been on the town site but had not remained, and the nth of July, 1854, found the Snowden family installed in their new home - the only white people living in Omaha. They boarded the workmen who were engaged in the manufacture of brick for a building which the townsite company erected to be used as a capitol for the territory. The undertaking, however, proved a failure, wuth the result that brick for the building was obtained from Council Bluffs. With every feature of Omaha's early development, upbuilding and progress Mr. Snowden was familiar, and he related many interesting incidents of the early days. Omaha's first hotel was a log building, sixteen by eighteen feet and one story in height. It was known as the St. Nicholas Hotel and was situated at the corner of Twelfth and Jackson streets. Mr. and ]\Irs. Snowden were the first occupants of that building and the first sermon preached in Omaha was by the Rev. Peter Cooper, a Methodist minister from Council Bluff's, in the St. Nicholas Hotel, then occulted by Mr. and Mrs. Snowden. This was in August, 1854.

In September, 1861, Mr. Snowden again responded to his country's call for military assistance, enlisting at Council Bluffs as a member of Company B, Fifth Iowa Cavalry, with which he served until 1864, spending that entire period in the field save for five months devoted to recruiting work at Council Bluff's. He entered the army as sergeant and later was made sergeant major. A year after his return from the war he became constable and continuously filled that position until 1893, when he slipped on a pavement and sustained injuries that forced him to use crutches thereafter and thus rendered him unfit for further duty. He also served as deputy sheriff under Thomas L. Sutton and later under Andrew Delhouse. He was at one time city marshal of Omaha and was thus long associated with the ofiicial work of maintaining the peace.

Mrs. Snowden was but sixteen years of age when she came to Omaha as a wife and mother and she endured all of the hardships of pioneer life without complaint, ever proving a most capable assistant and helpmate to her husband. As the years passed other children were added to the household until they nimibered seven. Five of these are still living: Mrs. V. H. Thomas; Mrs. Julia Wilnits ; George F. ; Mrs. George L. White ; and Helen Martaine, who has attained note as an artist.

Mr. Snowden Avas always gallant, always cordial, kindly and social and he was known throughout the city and county as "Uncle Billy." People always consulted him regarding matters concerning the early history of Omaha and he was deeply interested in every feature of the city's development and progress. He had almost reached the age of eighty-four years when he passed away on the Qth of January, 1909 - a veteran of two wars, a brave pioneer, a capable official and a most progressive and public-spirited citizen.

John O. Yeiser

John O. Yeiser, attorney at law of Omaha, was born in Danville, Kentucky, October 15, 1866, a son of Rev. George O. Yeiser, who was also born in the Blue Grass state and was of German descent. The founder of the American branch of the family was Englehart Yeiser, who settled at Baltimore, Maryland, prior to the Revolutionary war. The father was a Baptist minister who devoted forty years of active work to preaching the gospel. He became a pioneer settler of Nebraska and after living for a time at Ashland removed to Red Cloud. His last days were spent in retirement from active work at Fremont, where he passed away at the age of eighty-four years. During the period of the Civil war he held an appointment under President Lincoln as collector of revenue in the first district of Kentucky. He served at one time as a regent of the University of Missouri, at which period he was a resident of Mexico, that state. A man of very liberal education, he was graduated from Centre College of Kentucky, and while there he w^as a classmate of the late Justice Harlan of the United States Supreme Court and of W. C. P. Breckenridge. He practiced law in Kentucky before entering the ministry, but the greater part of his life was devoted to the higher calling. His words sank deep into many hearts and were the influencing factor in many lives. He married Almira Dillard, who was born in Kentucky in 1833 and represented one of the old families of that state of English and French stock. She was a daughter of the Rev. Ryland T. Dillard and granddaughter of the Rev. Ambrose Dudley, both ministers of the Baptist church. She died at Red Cloud, Nebraska, in 1883. In their family were nine children, of whom two died in infancy and one at the age of fifty years.

John O. Yeiser. the fourth in order of birth, acquired his primary education in the public school of Red Cloud, Nebraska, and when a youth of fifteen entered upon the study of law in, the office of Case & McNeny of Red Cloud. He passed the bar examination when but seventeen years of age, and entering upon active practice had the distinction of being the youngest attorney in the state. He continued to follow his profession in Red Cloud and at Riverton until September, 1889, when he came to Omaha, where he has since continued in the practice of law. His practice is now extensive and of an important character. His presentation of his case has always indicated wide research and care in its preparation. At no time has his reasoning ever been confined to any narrow limitation of the question at issue. It has gone beyond and prefaced every contingency and provided not alone for the expected, but for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them.

On the 5th of February, 1889, in Red Cloud. Mr. Yeiser was married to Miss Hetty L. Skeen. a native of Nebraska and a daughter of Kenyon and Candace (Drain) Skeen, who were pioneer settlers of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Yeiser have a son, John O., born in Omaha, August 23, 1895. The family hold membership in the First Christian church of Omaha, and he is also a member of the Commercial and Happy Hollow Clubs. In politics a republican, he served as a member of the pardoning board for three years, beginning in 1912, and in 1897 he was a member of the state legislature. He keeps well informed on those questions which are to the statesman and man of afifairs of deepest import, and his recognition of the duties and obligations of citizenship has led him to give earnest support to every plan and measure which, in his opinion, has to do with good government and the advancement of high civic ideals.

Clarence H. Walrath

The life record of Clarence H. \A'alrath is another proof of the fact that it is under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of necessity that the best and strongest in man is brought out and developed. Starting out in life as driver of a milk wagon for his father, who was engaged in the dairy business, his ambition blossomed in the sunlight of activity and has come into full flower and fruit with the passing years until he now ranks with the prominent and representative business men of Omaha, controlling extensive lumber interests not only in this city but also at various points in the state. He was born on a farm in Madison county. New York, July 6, 1864, and represents an old American family. His grandfather, Adam W'alrath. was probably a native of Pennsylvania and devoted his life to the occupation of farming. James J. Walrath, the father, was born in Herkimer county. New York, in 1824. and in Madison county, New

Clarence H. Walratpi

It was in the year 1870 that the parents removed with their family to Wilmington, Illinois, where Clarence H. Walrath pursued a public school education, supplemented by a business course in a college at Valparaiso, Indiana. He then returned to his father's farm at Kankakee, Illinois, and continued to devote his attention to general agricultural pursuits for several years. At length, he married and left the farm in 1885, at which time he secured a clerkship in a store in Kankakee, being tjiiis employed until 1887. In February of that year he went to Atkinson, Nebraska, as cashier in the Exchange Bank, and this proved the turning-point in his career, bringing to him a broader outlook and wider opportunities, which he eagerly embraced. He remained there for five years and left the bank in 1892 to devote his entire attention to his lumber interests, having in 1891 purchased a one-half interest in a lumber business at that point, which was operated under the lirm style of Sherwood & Walrath. In 1893 ^^e business was incorporated under the style of the C. H. Walrath Lumber Company. At iirst they operated a single yard at Atkinson but with the incorporation purchased a second yard. The panic of 1893 followed, and while the firm was not affected by it, they closed the second yard and husbanded their resources, concentrating upon the development of the trade at Atkinson until 1896, at which time the firm style was amended to the Walrath & Sherwood Lumber Company, Mr. Sherwood having retained his interests from the outset. They then entered the line-yard lumber business, purchasing yards at North Bend, Platte Center and Humphrey, Nebraska. At that time the headquarters of the firm were removed from Atkinson to North Bend and were there maintained until 1902, when headquarters were established at Omaha. In the meantime their business had been increased by the purchase of additional yards at Monroe and Genoa and with the removal to Omaha the firm engaged in the wholesale as well as in the retail lumber business. Their yards have been steadily increased until at the present time the company owns and operates lumber and coal yards, grain elevators and hardware stores in twelve of the best towns in Nebraska. Something of the growth of the business is further indicated in the fact that the capital stock has been increased to three hundred thousand dollars, together with a substantial surplus, all of which, with the exception of the original investment of thirty-five hundred sixty-eight dollars and twenty-four cents, has been earned in the business, while at the same time consistent dividends have been paid from year to year. Mr. Walrath is the vice president and treasurer of the company and has always been active in its development and management, the result of his labors being manifest in the continued growth and extension of their interests. In addition to his connection with the Walrath & Sherwood Lumber Company, Mr. Walrath is vice president and treasurer of the National Investment Company; president of the Atkinson (Neb.) Realty Company; a director of the Nebraska Portland Cement Company of Superior, Nebraska, and vice president of the Platte ^'alley Cement Tile Manufacturing Company of Fremont, Nebraska.

On the 8th of April, 1885, in Momence, Illinois, Mr. Walrath was united in marriage to Miss Alae A. Bartley, a daughter of the late Charles O. Hartley, and to them have been born three children: Clarence Earl, born Alay 4, 1886, who resides in Omaha and is associated with his father in business as secretary of the company; Fred B., born August 26, 1897, who is now attending college, and Mary Antoinette, born July 7, 1907.

The parents are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Omaha, Mr. Walrath serving on the official board, and also as a member of the finance committee. He is a prominent Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine, and he also belongs to the Happy Hollow Club, the Omaha Club and the Dewey Lake Club, associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation. He is an active, clean-cut business man., full of energy and quick to act in business matters. His judgments are never hasty or ill advised but he is prompt in carrying out his well defmed and carefully considered plans. Realizing the opi)ortunities for the extension of his trade relations, he has worked his way steadily toward that end and today is at the head of important business interests, contributing in large measure to the substantial upbuilding and development of the state.

William C. Bullard

William C. Bullard was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 1859. His parents, Jairus J, and Jane (Sweetland) Bullard, were natives of Vermont, coming to Illinois in the early days of the development of the state, where the father engaged in the lumber business, winning a competence, later to remove to Omaha. Here he lived retired until his death in 1909 at the age of seventy. His wife passed away in Chicago in 1863. William C. Bullard was their only child.

After attending the public school at Chatsworth, Illinois, and later continuing his studies at college in Poughkeepsie, New York, William C. Bullard spent his young manhood in his father's business at Chatsworth until the year 1885, when the west called to him and he settled at Culbertson, Nebraska. Starting in the lumber business his activities spread to McCook and soon to many towns in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado and here he laid the foundation for his later business success in Omaha. Mr. Bullard has constantly enlarged these early enterprises in western Nebraska until they now embrace various lumber, mining, mercantile and farming interests.

Coming to Omaha in 1890, Mr. Bullard engaged in the lumber business at Twentieth and Izard streets, which later became the firm of Bullard, Hoagland & Benedict. Today it is one of the representative firms of the city, enjoying a business of large proportions and having won an enviable reputation throughout the city and state for the high character of its dealings. In Omaha, as in western Nebraska, Mr. Bullard's constructive business ability found many opportunities, and he soon became connected with a number of the leading industries and commercial enterprises of the city, such as the Prudential Savings and Loan Association, of which he is president ; the Omaha Structural Steel Company, the Omaha Sanitary Supply Company, and others in which he is actively interested. For over thirty years Mr. Bullard has been closely identified with the commercial and industrial upbuilding of the city of Omaha and the state of Nebraska.

Shortly after coming to Nebraska, on the 3d of May, 1885, Mr. Bullard was married to Miss Emma LeBeau, a daughter of W. A. LeBeau, of Cullom, Illinois. Mrs. Bullard passed away February 26, 1917. Three children were born of this union, Mrs. D. K. Ellingwood and Mrs. Harry G. Shedd, and William C. Bullard, Jr., all of whom live in Omaha. Mr. Bullard's residence at 700 North P"ortieth is one of the most attractive and inviting homes in the city.

Mr. Bullard has taken an active part in the political life of the city and the state. He is a democrat and has always held a commanding place in the councils of his party. While in McCook, he served as mayor and in 1897 was police commissioner of Omaha for a two years' term, in both offices establishing records for high personal integrity and efficient public administration. He enjoys a wide reputation as a loyal, public-spirited citizen, who stands for every measure that tends to upbuild the city in accordance with the best civic standards and the broader principles of good government.

Mr. Bullard is a Mason and an Elk, and he belongs to the Happy Hollow Club and the Carter Lake Club - associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation and interests outside of business. He belongs to the Commercial Club and other business organizations. He has been a cheerful but unostentatious contributor to many charitable institutions, and to many has been the quiet, helpful friend. Creditable is his record in every respect. He is both forceful and resourceful, strong in his ability to plan and perform, strong in his honor and good name. He stands, just as he did in young manhood, for those things which count most in character-building and go farthest toward honorable success. The attainment of wealth has in no wise warped his kindly nature. He is a true friend, in and out of business, and therefore his friends are many.

Milton Charles Peters

Alilton Charles Peters is identified with various important corporate interests of Omaha, being now president of the M. C. Peters Mill Company, the United Alfalfa Company, the Wyoming Alfalfa Company and the Henrietta Security Company. He was bom in St. Louis, Missouri, October 14, 1863, a son of Henry B. and Elizabeth Charlotte Peters. The father, a native of Germany, became a resident of St. Louis in 1840 and in that city he and his wife btill reside. There Milton C. Peters pursued a public school education, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, and he also studied in the Beethoven Conservatory of Music. His initial step in the business world was made as an employe of the Bemis Brothers Bag Company of St. Louis, with which he remained for eight years. He later spent fifteen years with the Bemis Omaha Bag Company in this city and eventually entered his present business. His was the first alfalfa feed mill in the United States originating alfalfa balanced rations and the machinery was designed and patented by Mr. Peters. He was also the originator of machinery for cutting hay into meal form and for mixing alfalfa meal with molasses for stock rations. The original mill was constructed in 1905 and the present fireproof structure was rebuilt in 1909.

In 1886, in St. Louis, Mr. Peters married Etta C. Heitzeberg, a daughter of Edward C. Heitzeberg and a native of St. Louis, where her father was a leading provision and pork packer at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have a son, Ralph Milton, who married Dorothy Morgan, a granddaughter of Henry W. Yates.

In politics Mr. Peters is a republican and fraternally is connected with the Woodmen of the World. He has membership in All Saints Episcopal church and is a member of the Omaha Club and of the Omaha Country Club, of which he was president from 1913 to 1915 inclusive and at the present writing is a director.

Hon. Joseph M. Lovely

Hon. Joseph M. Lovely, a native son of Omaha, at the bar of which city he is now practicing, was born July 31, 1887, his father being Michael Lovely, a native of Canada, but of Irish ancestry, his father being Edward Lovely, the founder of the family in the new world. He crossed the Atlantic to Canada in 1830, and there Michael Lovely was reared and educated. In 1885 he came to Nebraska and entered the contracting and building business in Omaha, in which he won substantial prosperity, erecting many buildings in Nebraska and Iowa which today are monuments to his labor and evidences of his skill. He is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of a well spent Hfe. His political allegiance has always been given the democratic party, of which he is an ardent advocate, but has never sought nor desired public office. He wedded Mary Kelley, who was a native of Illinois and of Irish descent. She passed away in Omaha, October 31, 1909, at the age of fifty-three years.

order of birth. He was educated in the public schools of Omaha and in Creighton College and was graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences in 1908, while in 1914 he won the LL. B. degree. Following his graduation he entered upon the active practice of law, in which he has since continued. Prior to taking up the study of law he was associated with his father and learned the builder's trade in all of its departments, while from his earnings he saved the money that provided the means for his education. Following his graduation he entered at once upon active practice, to which he has since devoted his time and attention, and his clientage is now growing in volume and importance.

Mr. Lovely is a member of the Roman Catholic church and also has membership with the Eagles, the Stags, the Gamma Delta Gamma and the Barristers Club. He was also at one time a member of Company B, Fourth Regiment of the State Militia. In politics a democrat, he has been an active worker in party ranks and on the 7th of November, 1916, was elected to the state legislature. He also served for four terms as deputy tax assessor and he is interested in all those ihings which have to do with the welfare and progress of the city in which he lives and in all that has aught to do with the advancement of his state.

William F. Denny

William F. Denny is at the head of the Denny Live Stock Commission Company, operating at the Union Stock Yards in South Omaha, with offices in the Exchange building. From all sections of the country have come the men who are now active factors in controlling the great live stock industry which centers in this city. Mr. Denny was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, January 27, 1862, a son of William A. and Mary (Foresman) Denny, both of whom were also born in the Buckeye state. After the Civil war they removed with their family to Chicago, where the father engaged in the live stock commission business, organizing the lirm of Denny & Redman and operating at the Union Stock Yards in that city. There he continued in active business for many years, or until the time of his retirement, which followed the acquirement of a very substantial measure of success. He died in Chicago in 1908 at the age of seventy-one years. During the Civil war he actively supported the Union cause as captain of Company A of the Ninetieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was wounded, and was so badly disabled that he was unable to return to active service and was mustered out at the close of the war with the rank of captain. He made a most creditable military record for throughout the entire period of his service he proved himself an able defender of the stars and stripes. His widow is still a resident of Chicago and is now seventyseven years of age. In the family were six children, three sons and three daughters, William F. Denny being the eldest. One son died in infancy. N. R. Denny is now head hog buyer at South Omaha for Armour & Company. The daughters are : Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Forsythe, of Chicago ; and Nancy C. and Bertha B., also of Chicago.

In his boyhood days William F. Denny attended the Chicago public schools and afterward became a student in the Bryant & Stratton Business College, where he pursued a full course. He then became connected with the B. F. Murphy Packing Company of Chicago and remained with that firm for three years. Later he was with Hoagland & Hill of the board of trade in Chicago and was a member of the Chicago board of trade for three years. He has been identified with South Omaha and her business interests since December, 1886, at which time he organized the firm of W. F. Denny & Company for the conduct of a live stock commission business. This has been one of the leading firms on the live stock market of South Omaha throughout the intervening period. Mr. Denny is one of the most highly respected business men of Greater Omaha, for his associates have come to know that his word is to be thoroughly rehed upon, that his deahngs are always fair and just antl his opinions thoroughly impartial. There is no phase of the business with which he is not acquainted in principle and detail and for more than three decades he has now operated continuously, extensively and successfully as a representative of the live stock commission business in South Omaha.

In December, 1895, Mr. Denny was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Esmond, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Esmond. Mrs. Esmond passed away March 28, 191 5, and Mr. Esmond now makes his home in Fort Wayne, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Denny have been bom three children : William E., who was born in 1898 and was graduated from the high school in February, 1917; Kathryn E., who was born in 1900 and is a student at Browneil Hall, where she is pursuing a high school course ; and Charlotte F., who was born in 1903 and is attending the public schools.

Mr. Denny exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican party and he is a member of the Commercial Club. The spirit of undaunted enterprise finds expression in his business career. Throughout his entire life he has continued in one line of activity and this undoubtedly constitutes one of the factors in his growing success. He has never dissipated his energies over a broad field but has thoroughly mastered the work that he has undertaken and step by step has advanced until he has long occupied a position of leadership in live stock circles in Omaha and in this connection is widely known in other business centers of the country.

Albert Sidney White

Albert Sidney White, who is engaged in the real estate and investment business in Omaha, was born in Palmyra, Nebraska, December 25, 1874. He is a son of Dr. William S. and Jeanette (Taggart) White, who were natives of Kentucky and Illinois respectively. The White family is of English lineage and was founded in America in colonial days by ancestors who settled in Virginia. Representatives of the family participated in the Revolutionary war. The Taggarts were an old Pennsylvania family and the maternal grandfather, John M. Taggart, became a pioneer of Nebraska, settling here in 1856, and represented Douglas county in the Nebraska legislature in territorial days. He was a minister of the Baptist church and long held membership with the Nebraska State Baptist Ministerial Association, in the work of which he took a leading part, serving as its president. He died in this state in 1887, at the age of seventy years. The Taggarts were of Scotch-Irish descent, the founder of the family in the new world being Robert Taggart, who came to the United States when this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain. He settled in Philadelphia and there the family was represented for some generations.